The term “public safety” often elicits images of firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. We tend to think it is the first responders who keep the public safe. While they certainly do play a role, this public safety picture is incomplete—or perhaps, wholly inaccurate. Emerging is a new definition of
Across the U.S., COVID-19 is hitting communities of color the hardest. Here in greater Boston it’s no different. There are high rates of infection in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park—the heart of Black Boston. In fact, Black people account for more than 40% of COVID-19 cases
On May 1, Hawai’i state officials announced their plan to market the islands to tourists as “the safest place on earth.” While Hawai’i has long been sold as a place to relax, enjoy, and escape the problems of the world, the current global pandemic seems to have provided
This article is part of Prism’s series on Tribal Nations, Voting Rights, & Political Power. Read the rest of the series here. The first political campaign I volunteered for was the 2002 race of former South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson. Seeing the potential of our own communities to
While some have said no one could have seen this pandemic coming, I know one person who could have: my 84-year-old grandmother. My grandmother grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the 1930s. At that time, Native Americans were oppressed by the government, which removed their children and
In the first months since the novel coronavirus hit the United States, acts of hate against Asian Americans have been on the rise. Asian Americans across the country have shared stories of being accosted verbally and physically by fellow Americans looking for someone to blame. “Go back to China!” or
The crisis Los Angeles is facing as we confront COVID-19 does not take place in a vacuum. It is a public health crisis that converges with many decisions we have made as a county thus far. Decades of investing in policing and punishment have put our health at greater risk.
Millions of people across the world are sheltered in place. Doctors have advised us to leave our homes as infrequently as possible in order to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 and in some places fines have been imposed on those who disregard these orders. One of the few reasons
Most prisons in America contract out their phone services for incarcerated people to two telecommunications companies: Securus Technologies and Global Tel Link. This allows those companies to set and control pricing for the vast majority of all phone calls from people in prison. Incarcerated people typically set up accounts with
Note: This article contains sexually explicit descriptions and racial harassment that may be triggering to some readers. It’s Thursday, March 26, Day 14 of my self-quarantine. Instead of visiting family or getting away for spring break, the entire state of California is sheltering at home in the midst of
Judges are tasked with applying the law to the facts, and are often called upon to determine which barriers have risen too high and what behaviors are considered reasonable. The lens through which a judge views the facts of criminal and civil cases, as well as appeals, affects the outcome
Texas has closed 750 polling stations since 2012. While this makes it more difficult for anyone to vote, it’s hard not to see the closures as calculated when 542 of the 750 closed polling sites were in the counties that gained the most Black and Hispanic residents, as analyzed
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